Pinterest remains a new platform that many people are still becoming used to. In addition, the image-sharing site has had difficulties regarding copyright, resulting in an update to its T&C’s having to be made. However, Flickr has now added a Pinterest button to its site, allowing website browsers to pin images to their boards instantly.</p> <p>The new Flickr Pinterest button will allow images to be ‘pinned’ with full accreditations, avoiding the copyright issues of the past. This will offer digital content and article writers even more ways to spread content throughout the web with the joint forces of Flickr and Pinterest images within articles, drawing more attention to the writing. </p> <p>One of Pinterest’s largest content sources is Flickr, with users scouring the traditional image website for new and interesting pictures to pin to their boards. Content users often use images within their articles to attract the attention of readers, and Pinterest’s handy use of keeping source links in place, could help drive traffic to websites. In addition, businesses and content providers who offer Pinterest buttons on their websites can increase exposure by allowing users to pin images themselves.</p> <p>For those concerned about copyright issues, image owners can prevent Pinterest sharing from Flickr if they wish. Likewise, all images will be clearly attributed with links, titles and photographs. However, for those who want to increase their brand presence on the internet and draw customers to their sites, the new Flickr and Pinterest option could be of real benefit.<br />

As any smartphone user knows, a 3G connection is crucial for good mobile surfing if no Wi-Fi hotspot is available. Now, the Everything Everywhere (EE) mobile network has started a campaign pushing for the UK to start offering 4G data services, providing those on the move with even faster surfing speeds.</p> <p>Entrepreneurial companies increasingly have to turn to the web to advertise their products and services, whether this is by way of video production, news feeds or great content. With more people roaming the internet as they move around, it is becoming a necessity to ensure that web content is also accessible and down loads quickly, with websites preferably having mobile sites for customers to utilise. </p> <p>The latest push on 4G could mean that mobile downloading occurs faster than ever before, offering web-based companies the option to provide even more content to those browsing their sites whilst on the move.</p> <p>EE is the company resulting from the T-Mobile and Orange merger, and the firm has called for more effort to be put into providing 4G services. Chief executive, Olaf Swantee, said: “The UK had struck me as a place where mobile technology is deployed first and yet the infrastructure is behind Germany, Scandinavia and the US. I want to do something about this issue.”</p> <p>If 4G does come to the UK, it will be important for websites to keep up with the trend and ensure that their content is easily accessible to smartphone customers. In addition, by producing great content that is available in a range of forms, businesses will be able to sneak ahead of competitors.<br />

The importance of quality article writing was highlighted in findings made recently by Richard McCreadie, a Computer Scientist at the University of Glasgow. Mr McCreadie was asked by New Scientist to look into the issue of how search engines have been updated in recent months to focus their results on high-quality sites and avoid those set up primarily to raise advertising revenue.</p> <p>Google led the way in making changes and announced in February that its updated search algorithm would prioritise sites publishing material that was well-researched and original in content. It was noted by many sites that they were subsequently penalised in the search rankings if multiple articles that were very similar in content were published. Google also uses feedback from users, by dropping the position of sites that people exclude from search results.</p> <p>Mr McCreadie tested the success of search engines' avoidance of low quality sites by running 50 search queries that he knew to be a target of the type of site that would run multiple near-identical articles to attract traffic. He then arranged for the results to be examined and identified low-quality sites whose primary function was advertising.</p> <p>The results showed that in March, many low quality sites were found, but by August, most of these had disappeared and were replaced with good quality information. </p> <p>New Scientist does not expect this to be the end of the story, however. It says sites will continue looking for a cheap short cut and so it is only a matter of time before they start finding new ways to climb up the rankings and the next battle begins.<br />

The Guardian newspaper plans to introduce marketing on its website that is more targeted in nature, with the intention of steering its readers toward the paid-for services offered that are most relevant to the individual consumer.</p> <p>The services on offer that will be subject to targeted marketing include the Soulmates dating service and Guardian holiday deals. Consumers will be pointed towards relevant services based on their user behaviour and eventually by using demographic data as well. The newspaper hopes that this form of targeting will encourage users to spend more time overall on its website.</p> <p>The Content Sales and Marketing Director at the Guardian, Chris Lawson, said: “If we know someone is a new customer that has never visited the site before, is promoting a subscription to our iPhone app to them as relevant as pointing it to someone that's been on the site 25 times?</p> <p>“Of course it's not. This is about trying to show users the most relevant offers so they get the most useful experience from our site.”</p> <p>Mr Lawson emphasised that they were not aiming to drive customers away from the journalistic content offered by the site, but to showcase the commercial aspects of the site in a more targeted way.</p> <p>Each month, more than 60 million unique users visit the Guardian's website and over four million people have the Facebook app installed. The Guardian hopes that its new strategy will help double its digital revenues to almost £100 million by 2015.<br />

A new tablet that is seen as potentially being able to challenge Apple's iPad 2 might be released in the US in time for Christmas, according to reports.</p> <p>It had been widely expected that release of Asus' Transformer Prime tablet would be delayed until early next year. However, Asus has now been quoted as saying the shipping date for the tablet will be the 19th December. This should allow US consumers the opportunity to get hold of the device in time for Christmas.</p> <p>The rumoured delay was due to speculation that there were Wi-Fi problems with the tablet. Asus is now taking steps to find the source of a statement, saying that shipping would be delayed for this reason.</p> <p>A spokesperson for Asus said: “At this point, we still show to be on schedule to start shipments the week of 12/19. I will provide an update once I have additional information.”</p> <p>The tablet, which initially features the Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system, has received excellent reviews. As a result, pre-orders had been cancelled by Amazon and some other online retailers, who say the product was in short supply. One of the strongest features of the device is a keyboard docking station, which allows the Transformer Prime to act like a laptop. It also has more storage than the iPad 2, some better specs and will retail at a lower price.</p> <p>Unfortunately, however, the Europe release date for the Asus Transformer Prime is not expected until sometime in January 2012. Therefore, this does not give UK consumers the opportunity for content browsing on the device over the Christmas period.<br />

In a civilised society, it tends to fall on the elders to teach the young about things such as etiquette and manners. Parents, grandparents and teachers remind the young to say “please” and “thank you” and conform to other socially accepted conventions. The world of social media is vastly different, with the “elders” tending to be those who would be seen as the young in any other sphere, setting their own agenda, which may not suit the “real world” view.</p> <p>Consider the impact</p> <p>Although seemingly harmless, posts on sites such as Facebook and Twitter can come back to bite people, as Sandy Hyde, etiquette expert points out. “People need to be careful about what they say, and think before they write. There is a reaction to everyone for their actions.” Where some posts may generate a rather robust argument online, there can be big offline repercussions if people post before they think. Most things posted on social media sites will be available for your friends and family as well as current or prospective employers.</p> <p>Social media tips</p> <p>Never be afraid of not “friending” somebody, especially if that person is a work colleague that you don’t want knowing the ins and outs of your personal life. “Social media is not a high school popularity contest,” reminds Hyde: “It’s not rude, just let it rest.” The best rule of thumb that Hyde has over social media is not to “mention anything you wouldn’t share face to face.”<br />

Although blogging is to many a hobby, destined to share recipe ideas or reviews of bands with a select group of people, it can turn into something much bigger. Sites such as The Huffington Post began as private blogs, before growing and morphing into hugely successful and commercial places, often attracting investment or even potential buyers. Businesses blogging to increase user experience or to boost search engine ranking is on the increase, and as such it is important to hit the right tone. </p> <p>Networking and promotion </p> <p>Whilst seen by some as a “dirty” word, networking in this case can prove highly effective for blogs. Commenting and posting on other relevant blogs can tempt their audience to pop across to you, especially if you have something interesting and relevant to add to the discussion. Similarly, if you have posted a new blog entry, adding links to your Twitter and Facebook feeds can help to drive traffic to your site. </p> <p>Topics and keywords </p> <p>If when you search for a particular keyword relating to your business, you are seeing a distinct lack of relevant links returned, this could provide an interesting angle for your blog. Your content will be recognised as more relevant than the existing pages and should start to climb the rankings. At the same time, flooding your text with keywords will annoy readers human and robotic, so keep these to a minimum, employing synonyms throughout to catch as wide an audience as possible.<br />

One of the most striking aspects of using social media to promote your company is the real-time aspect to the response from your audience. Hashtags, comments, likes and shares all show up instantly, letting social media managers know how well the campaign is hitting its target audience. What is seen by many as the most exciting aspect of social media marketing could also be potentially the most frightening, especially if the audience’s response proves to be somewhat unpalatable. </p> <p>Meet the farmers </p> <p>Fast food giant McDonald’s found out what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a battering on Twitter this month. The company has been running a campaign aimed at telling the stories of some of its suppliers, specifically the farmers who supply the beef, potatoes and lettuce. Although there was a generally positive reaction to the hashtag #meetthefarmers, some followers were less than reserved in their criticism of the company.</p> <p>Telling stories</p> <p>A further topic that McDonald’s promoted was a call to provide any “McDonald’s Stories.” Comments received here were generally angry and were embarrassing to the company, prompting McDonald’s to pull promotion of the subject in less than two hours. When dealing with such a dynamic and potentially volatile set of circumstances, it is vital that responses are closely monitored and replied to as soon as possible. Whilst it is not considered good practice to delete any tweets that make for uncomfortable reading, pulling the promotion of hashtags can help restore order.<br />

The second wave of social media adopters must learn to avoid the pitfalls and dangers encountered by many early adopters. Rarely a week goes by without a high profile figure being at the centre of a row that has been caused by comments on a social media platform. Whether it is Ed Milliband misspelling “blockbusters” as “blackbusters,” Diane Abbott making a perceived racist slight, Kevin Pieterson criticising the England selectors, or Joey Barton picking a fight with anyone, public gaffes are seen to be the result of high profile people failing to “self-publish.”</p> <p>A transition period</p> <p>Whilst most of the early adopters of social networks include teenagers and twenty-somethings, it is hard to define the demographic of those signing up today. Many teenagers do not know of a world without Facebook, Skype, connectivity and social networking, and communicate naturally with friends new and old from around the globe, whilst digital “non-natives” find it much harder to be natural in this brave new world. According to Kieron Hannon, Director at eSocialMedia, many executives and senior professionals are “using these channels to communicate and are just getting there, but they are not natural and that is where the problems arise.”</p> <p>One simple rule</p> <p>Mark Higgerson of iCrossing believes there is one simple rule for effective use of social media, and it is to not do “anything on social media that may later embarrass you or the company you work for.” If only everyone used this common sense approach!<br />

A court in Dublin has ordered social media giant Facebook to stop indefinitely retaining the data generated by its half a billion users outside of the USA. The data in question relates to the adverts clicked on by these “international” users, with the changes coming as a result of a review of Facebook’s practices by the Irish data protection commissioner. Rather than indefinitely retaining the data, Facebook must make the data anonymous, and delete all data within 90 days.</p> <p>A privacy fightback</p> <p>This investigation is the latest in a long list of concerns that have emerged about Facebook’s privacy settings and policies. Criticism has been levelled at the site due to a number of changes to user privacy settings that happened without either adequate knowledge or control. It is likely that the changes enforced in the company’s international arm would be enforced in the US, according to Facebook’s European Director of Policy, Richard Allan. Allan was positive about the report, responding that it was pleasing that “the report highlighted a number of Facebook’s strengths or best practices.”</p> <p>Less “messing with data”</p> <p>Austrian pressure group “Europe versus Facebook” welcomed the move by the Irish data protection commission, calling the legislation the “first step of a long way to make Facebook comply with European laws.” The legislation is likely to “limit the ability of Facebook to mess with user data more than we expected.”<br />